Secrets of The Motorway - M23

[@Babygrumplin55]

If you asked me to find a subject more boring and tedious than a strip of soulless mundane concrete, I would be hard pressed. Yet this is weirdly compulsive and totally fascinating. Its like finding a whole new world of magic and wonder beneath the sheen of drying paint.

[@AutoShenanigans]

"Its like finding a whole new world of magic and wonder beneath the sheen of drying paint." Perfect.

[@roberthiggins6401]

Put very well and agree it's very interesting.

[@andrewdenby8239]

Bizarrely you are quite right, I do find myself wondering just how 'tongue in cheek' this channel and it's premise is but nonetheless, it is very strangely a 'must view' channel, well done John for making the the most tedious of subjects so compelling to watch.

[@Dan23_7]

You just can’t beat finding out facts that mean F all to most people but to the long distance driver these are pub quiz gold material 👌🏼 Not that I go to pubs nor do quizzes

[@Abarise]

It’s all in the delivery which is outstanding here.

[@anthonycatherall2718]

John, I’m a retired Surrey firefighter and I thoughtI knew the area around the M23 pretty well, indeed we drove down it in an appliance to familiarize ourselves before it was opened to the public in the 70s. However thanks for producing your excellent videos, I’m fascinated by your digging deep to inform your viewers of just what’s around Britains motorways, in this video especially the Pendell Camp bunker. As a postscript to you on the 28 June 1987 I was responsible for bringing a Trident Aircraft fuselage on a trailer from Heathrow to Surrey Fire Brigade Headquarters Reigate via M25 and M23 turning the whole convey around at Hooley at the northern end of M23 to proceed to Reigate through Merstham on A23. Anthony.

[@saltbjorn]

Thanks for the fascinating read Anthony

[@mrmoondoggful]

I'm a 50 year old man from California...and I fu*king love your channel, M8! I have no idea why...never been to the UK...lol

[@AutoShenanigans]

I don't have the answer either mate but I appreciate you watching! Have a good one!

[@CarolMapley]

The military building is in fact an anti aircraft operations room but later was used as the southern wartime HQ for the Met Police, their other bunker is at Lippitts Hill in North east London. Merstham was then used by the police to store all the handguns handed in after the Dunblane shooting prior to their destruction. The site was sold in the early 2000s and has since been wrecked.

[@AutoShenanigans]

I didnt know about the storage.. well I'd read it was used to store stolen goods for a while but thats not quite the same.

[@split196]

I work at the Merstham bunker during 1995 to 1999 and it was empty between those dates. I worked for the Met special events unit at Merton and we were tasked with looking after the property.

[@Aardvarkjamm]

Having worked on the motorway/highway network in the UK for many years, both as a truck driver and also as a VRS (crash barrier) installer and repairer, I enjoy your videos for many reasons. Working as a subcontractor to the Highways Agency, I an familiar with many of the 'hidden' entry/exit slips, having used them myself. I worked out of the Weatherhill depot for quite a number of years, repairing accident damaged VRS on the M23 and other sections of road maintained by the Highways Agency in the area. A random fact about the Hooley interchange, at the north end of the M23. It is known as 'The Dead Zone' by all the local highways workers, I guess because the road becomes a 'dead end'. It was used as a compound to store materials, aggregates etc at the time I worked in the area. With access to both the M25 and the M23, it is a perfect place for crews and vehicles to wait until the traffic management crews have installed any lane closures, prior to work commencing on either motorway, likewise as a turn around point for the same reasons. Another random fact about the north section of the M23, is that the maintenance of this section is split between the Leatherhead and Weatherhill highways depots, with their border being half way between the Hooley interchange and junction 9 at Gatwick, because that makes perfect sense right? 🤔🤔 This is speculation, but it is possible that the Gatwick spur of the M23 was given a motorway designation, purely for maintenance reasons, as that fell under our duty to maintain. Randomly, some sections of slip roads and/or junctions fall under the jurisdiction of the Highways Agency to maintain while others can be in part the liability of local authority. There is always the possibility that they decided it would better serve the airport as a motorway, with the forethought that it might stop random people stopping on the carriageway to figure out where they put their passports, prior to arriving at the check in?? 😂😂 Only joking, that would suggest a higher level of thought process going into road planning!

[@DavidShepheard]

Nice of you to give a shout out to that Jay Foreman guy.

[@bobstirling6885]

Like the sound of the Geiger counter in the abandoned bunker....

[@nine_pound]

You missed the communication poles disguised as trees on the southbound side just north of the Pease Pottage turning. You can only see them from the northbound lane if you’re in the car.

[@split196]

Just to give you a heads up that that building that you checked with an underground bunker inside used to be command control for Croydon airfield Biggin hill and kenley, I used to service the generators when the police owned it until 2000, It had its own air supply electricity supply and sewage supply, it was a very good place and had a load of memorabilia in there until the gypsies(they lived the other side of the motorway) got in there about 10 years before it was finally found by you. We used to have to go to Kenley police station to pick up the keys and then I could go in there and I used to spend about 4 to 6 hours every week up there check in the building over. It was called pendals camp. I’ll happily answer any further questions if I can. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@luckysmiler]

was it a big place, what did the police use it for?

[@split196]

@@luckysmiler The police didn’t use it for anything, we were just handed it to keep it for maintenance for the government. it was a huge building underneath As said there was quite a few floors in there and there’s probably around 60 rooms underneath if you go all the way to the back of the building there is actually a full canteen room in there with eating facilities. As you come down the staircase where he was you turn right at the bottom of the stairs and the generator and also the air cleaning supply and the sewage supply was on the right hand side, as you go in the door before you go down the stairs that used to be a big glass window on the right hand side that looked down over the map room and that was where you used to see the images of all of the planes being moved around on the map. When I went there all the telephone switchgear and the headsets were all still in there laying on the table

[@whyyoulidl]

@@split196 Thx Split. That's fascinating! What a privilege you had.

[@misfortuneschild]

was it cold war? because definitely looks too young for WW2 and it's not on the EDoB database cheers

[@split196]

Sry to say it is ww2, the insides were screaming so. I worked in there for 4 years, it was updated a few times so I can see why you would think that.

[@albertbatfinder5240]

Is there an official Society of Good-Natured British Infrastructure Nerds coalescing around KZbin? There’s so many of them, and I like them all.

[@AutoShenanigans]

They're a good bunch!

[@jaymitchell9694]

I'm genuinely addicted to this series so keep it up mate!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Excellent, thanks for watching.

[@supertouring22]

Your throwback tv references are so funny. Priceless.

[@Mustang00007]

Cmon guys hit the subscribe button this bloke is great with his dry wit...he's no twit.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Cheers mate :D

[@Nobody-hk8wj]

Jay Foreman is a bloody genius

[@mattmiller8139]

An interesting video. I grew up in Caterham and I remember being taken on it to go shopping in Crawley when the motorway first opened in 1976. One thing you wouldn’t have seen is that the West Sussex & Surrey County Boundary sign has moved. Originally, they were just at the start of the Southbound exit slip road to Junction 10 & at the Northern end of the Nortbound entry slip at Junction 10. Now they are both situated just North of the roundabout at Junction 9. The county boundary now follows the Northern side of the M23 spur road but when the motorway originally opened the county boundary was further South on the motorway & Horley to the North West was in West Sussex from 1974 until about 1981 when it returned to Surrey.

[@whyyoulidl]

Thanks!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Really nice of you mate, thanks a lot!

[@whyyoulidl]

@@AutoShenanigans np, yr welcome; keep up the good work 👍🏿

[@simonelliott5956]

Very amusing! You’d think that this would be a 10 minutes or so of your life wasted, but I am becoming addicted to these videos and your humour John! Thank you!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one, thanks for watching!

[@starlight5229]

Close to my heart this crazy little bit o' motorway 🙂 The other 'stacks' are Almondsbury and M25/M4. Loved the bunker bit 👍🏻 The M23 passes quite close to Bletchingly and apparently, there's some old bunker or underground ex military thing under a big hill there too. The drone footage in your videos is spot on too 👌🏻 Thanks for another good one. Have a good week, whatever it is you get up to 😁🖐🏻

[@AutoShenanigans]

Awesome, thanks for watching.

[@djbasics123]

Motorways and abandoned buildings twice the fun, thanks again!

[@circadianizzy]

Non-driver here but also very interested in road networks, including our motorways! Great series, can't wait to see which ones you tackle next!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad we appeal to non drivers as well :)

[@Philip337]

I liked the bit about the bunker and thanks for the plug about subterranea britannica for which I am a member we visit many underground sites in the UK and in other countries I been lucky to have visit quite a few myself over the years

[@robwilkie1]

Bit of trivia - the section of M23 from Gatwick to Pease Pottage is the only Motorway in Sussex.

[@luckysmiler]

What about the M27

[@robwilkie1]

All in Hampshire

[@Assimilator1]

Fascinating about the bunker! :)

[@marcwaller3657]

I was on the M23 the day before yesterday, heading to the Gatwick aviation Museum. (A very interesting place if you like old Aeroplanes) so it was good to learn about what I'd been passing. Great video as always.

[@chasevans7171]

I used to love a rummage around G.W. Bridges scrap yard at pease pottage, there were some ancient relics in the far corner of the yard back in the 90's.

[@Keithholliday2707]

Superb editing , loved the through the keyhole sound bite , keep up the great work John 👍

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks a lot mate!

[@Monkey_Joe_Tokyo]

Thank you John, the M23 means home to me (Brighton) so I think it’s smashing.

[@daveys]

Nice secret bunker find, and well woven into the overall story!

[@vespasian606]

Cue chuckle every time I watch. Good luck with 100k.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks for watching!

[@betamontecarloturbo]

Thank you so much for bringing attention to grass roots motorsport I used to do something very similar to that as a teen, just on tarmac, at a place called Grimley raceway and it's always nice to see these small venues mentioned

[@BROWNCOW89]

As a full time motorway driver, its really good to see stuff that i have always wondered about whilst driving up and down the country :-) keep up the good work

[@sabinebogensperger1928]

Loved it! Very generous of you to signpost your viewers to Jay's channel 😉

[@themickace]

Great Video John!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Cheers mate

[@616Themaster]

Great shout out to the (imo) underrated Jay Foreman.

[@LosPeregrinos51]

About 5 years ago when I was working for A1+ (Highways England/National Highways maintenance contractor) I was investigating the state of the original drainage system for the south end of the M23 - it's pretty bad by the way - when the camera survey team contacted me and said they'd found something odd. They'd jet washed away a load of stone and silt and found a pipe that didn't fit in with the plans we had then - on the east side of the motorway and to the north of the banger racing circuit. 27 inch diameter and laid to drain in a southwards direction. We dug through the archives and found it's been there from the start but had been missed off intermediate surveys - probably because of the build up of debris. I got them to run their tractor unit (think of a ROV under the sea but on wheels instead) upstream and they got about 250m before a blockage that they couldn't get past. It's in reasonable condition but only takes a trickle of water. The original "as-built" drawings show it running for about 800 feet parallel to the motorway before turning due east for another 250 feet. There's supposed to be a manhole at the turn but we couldn't find it. As to what it was laid for . . . who knows? There was no sign on any of the plans of any kind of structure that would require such a relatively large pipe. Another mystery!

[@amazingusername8925]

The banger racing at Smallfield is amazing!

[@nigelwarburton608]

Superb as always - loving your new chair John!

[@MaverickRenegade]

Absolutely love the sound bites on this channel.

[@benkeen]

Just north of jct 7 there’s a Starbucks adjacent to one of the oldest railway routes in the UK, the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway opened in 1805.

[@glennbarton9619]

There's a piece of the original plateway in Merstham and the blurb suggests it is part of the oldest public railway in the world.

[@cuddlepaws4423]

That was an interesting clip, especially the bunker. We were fascinated by the fact that you seem to have a little furry friend attached to your clothing. It looks like a curled up Dwarf Russian Hamster. Now, that IS Wicked Sweet Awesome!! 🐹🐹

[@rickydub6950]

Nice bit of Adhoc Urbex John 😁 looked a lovely day out too 😎👍

[@AutoShenanigans]

It certainly was mate!

[@PatGilliland]

Nice! Bunkers and everything.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Unexpected! Thanks for watching

[@peterharris3006]

The other 4 level stack interchanges are at Almondsbury (M4/M5) and Thorney (M4/M25).

[@yoksnod]

I've only very recently stumbled upon this channel by accident and after 3 videos I think i'm already hooked. fascinating, intriguing and somewhat odd, all at the same time. but it's different than anything else i've watched. very well filmed, narrated and edited. great stuff. 👍 i look forward to new videos pop up in my notifications and will attempt to get through as much as i can of what i've already missed.

[@bertietheboy]

Now THIS is content!! Bravo!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks for watching!

[@bertietheboy]

@@AutoShenanigans first of many my man ✌️

[@glynwelshkarelian3489]

Smallfield had a hospital built for the Canadian Army that was based in Tilgate Forest in WWII. It was turned to civilian use afterwards. I spent time there as a child. There were air raid shelters between each ward, where I played. There was a piece of splintered wood at exactly my head hight, and one end was collapsing, so I played with real bricks. It is also still the only place I have seen a cockroach. One crawled under the lavvy door whilst I was sat down. There's now no trace of the place, and almost no record I could find when I went looking a decade ago.

[@billgaytes6845]

If anyone asked me to visit the M23 for fun I would think they'd lost their marbles but John makes each and every motorway episode so interesting that I can't wait for the next.

[@AutoShenanigans]

I am always met with odd looks when people ask "What do you do" Yep.. I sit on motorways!

[@oliverhop9752]

3:17: M4/M5 Interchange north of Bristol… M4/M25 Interchange near Hamondsworth.. M1/M25 Interchange is a partial crossover with the south slipways missing. 😎 There are some wired and wonderful junctions along the M4 South Wales many restricted junctions with odd layouts.. one is M4 J44 near Birchgrove which features an internal slip road on the inside of the roundabout heading East on the M4 towards Port Talbot 😁

[@RichieRouge206]

That chair was decadent - I hope you chucked it in the back of the Saab! Great video. Your skill at making something as painfully mudane as a motorway is an art and I find it fascinating! Great video

[@AutoShenanigans]

I was tempted.. but you know.. it probably had crabs.

[@malcolmpettett5957]

Don't forget the tunnels/old mine workings in Merstham, went down them in my younger days, found whilst surveying the route M23/M25. Nice videos thanks for sharing

[@cliveadams7629]

Fastest way out of Croydon and Croydon is well worth getting out of as fast as you can.

[@matthewwilliams4569]

Another well made video. I’m loving this series so far. Look forward to it every week

[@AutoShenanigans]

Cheers mate!

[@johnreynolds5103]

A mere 16 miles of master filmmaking. Top work as always!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks mate!

[@pauldavidson1866]

The "Through the keyhole" bit made me chuckle slightly.

[@mdeckerLondon]

Fun fact - when Bob Geldof was a labourer he worked on that 'dead end' bit of the M23. Now you know...

[@philmarino9386]

Ah yes!?..but he didn't work Mondays !😂😂😂

[@mdeckerLondon]

@@philmarino9386 he did, he just didn't like it.

[@havingalook.]

The part in the trees is just a rat trap...

[@philmarino9386]

@@havingalook. ...the fine art of motorway surfacing!....😂

[@asp383]

There may have been talks about extending the M23 South, as I've been told by a few people I know who worked in Civil engineering and did a lot of WSCC highways upgrades, that the A23/A272 junction was built to motorway specifications and that same section was also more recently reworked (especially Handcross Hill), straightening it up and making it 3x lanes as far as Burgess Hill, although lane 1 SB and Lane 1 NB North of Burgess Hill junction are filter lanes.

[@cjmillsnun]

The Bolney interchange is nowhere near motorway standard.

[@tmb8807]

“The ambitious London Ringways project was an ambitious project to build ringways around London” Yeah.

[@nathanw9770]

Ambitious is a bit of an understatement

[@AutoShenanigans]

yeah

[@tmb8807]

@@AutoShenanigans You have a way with words my friend.

[@Richard-fv7rq]

Great series these, driven so many times on this and other motorways completely oblivious to what is the other side of the trees!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one thanks for watching mate!

[@sideshow4417]

This series will build this channel.

[@AutoShenanigans]

It's going great so far! thanks for watching

[@BarrieHughes]

There is a similar stub on the 3 lane M53 at Hooton on the Wirral where it diverges onto the former M531 (now M53 extension) originally Vauxhall Ellesmere Port access. The stub was directed towards the proposed M56 extension towards Queensferry and North Wales (the never improved A550). Now the M53 has been extended east through tight curves as a two lane motorway to meet the M56 east of Chester and continue around the east side of Chester to run into the A55 North Wales Expressway.

[@OliB150]

I had to double check the M4/M5 near me as I hadn’t really considered it was 4 levels, nor that it was actually uncommon, having grown up travelling it regularly it just feels normal!

[@rbcleaningskegness9191]

Great video John 👍 spent a lot of times driving up and down the M23 working in and around Creepy Crawley also nice to see Small Fields banger track my son in law used to race around there before also moving up here in Skegness..

[@BillyCabrio1985]

That section at the very top of the M23 where it would’ve joined the Ringways has always intrigued me, seems such a waste of road given the horrific traffic congestion at times in South London would probably be a godsend nowadays!

[@williamreynolds1163]

I think this is the first time I have ever seen my road on youtube .The clip starts off on the motorway bridge at Shepherds Hill ( I live up the Hill ),and you show my roof ,fame at last! As you say the unused section is basically Highways Agency who use it as a depot for I assume a fair swathe of the M25?Merstham is quite famous for transport ,as not only does it have an unfinished motorway ,a four stack junction ,it also has one of the longest railway tunnels in England ,and the first iron rail horse drawn railway .Oh and Nobel demonstrated dynamite for the first time in the Uk in an old quarry that forms part of the northern section of the M23 . Anyway ,great work as ever! I think you were going to do a review of the M54 at some time (a motorway I used to use a lot!)

[@andrewjohnston2901]

Another brilliant motorway vlog 👍👏👏

[@rover_animates]

Another awesome video in this series! I've personally never been on or anywhere near the M23, but the way it is designed is interesting. Oh, and the other two four-level stacks are at M25 J15/M4 J4b and M5 J15/M4 J20. I've only ever been past the M5/M4 iteration of this junction type.

[@restyleband5522]

Fantastic!..................... Here we are, back once again with the Renegade Master.

[@Rilerboy]

The paintball site is on a 500-600 acre site that has been purchased by Centreparcs (Part of Tilgate Forest). It should make a lovely holiday venue being adjacent to the M23, London to Brighton train line, Gatwick airport and Crawley.

[@AutoShenanigans]

A beautiful holiday destination indeed, and on the plus side, it'll be horrendously overpriced. What's not to like!

[@jamesgee3616]

Appreciate it's little further north than usual, but would love you to make a video looking at the M67 - it's an odd little thing that (I think) was built with the intention to carry on to Sheffield from city-centre Manchester, but now just links Hattersley to the M60. Has ghost starts and exits and really is a shame it's such a sort motorway now - the Hattersley roundabout is hell any time before 8pm, and really just needs some love! The M60 is also super interesting, sections near Stockport and Denton all relatively new too (with more ghost slips for some reason). Love the videos!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Yeah we're working our way up North. There's a still a few down this way we need to sort. Thanks for watching!

[@PhillipParr]

You're bloody good at this, I can only imagine the amount of effort.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Ah well... I'm alright i spose. Yeah it's a long day out for sure but it's most fun.

[@burninglion2584]

That armchair!! - Classic Shenanigans,

[@johnlladron735]

Another video epic, about a road they didn't seem to want to build, that doesn't seem massively necessary, that I don't really care about. Yet it contained some fascinating gems. Thank you for such a great channel!

[@adriansmusic2445]

Brilliant, thanks again John. Great fun watching :D

[@KiiaBite]

Love the pause at the beginning to let two cars pass without missing a beat. Looked very professional and oddly gave me a chuckle.

[@AutoShenanigans]

I've developed a 6th sense for oncoming cars.

[@Victorflange]

I really love these videos. They cheer me up every Sunday evening. Keep them coming

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one mate, shall do!

[@999hireactionvehicles9]

Wow that's great information Knew about Ringway project But bunkers ....

[@benthesatnav]

I am waiting for the m4, its gotta be soon i beg 🤣🤣

[@kaboose2177]

Smallfields is a good day out, good shout.

[@sjh7225]

Your pronunciation of Merstham was spot on John! Another great video of my local motorway, thanks!!! 😄

[@AutoShenanigans]

Hooray! Thanks for watching mate.

[@MMR_LM]

I don’t really have any trivia to add to these comments that hasn't been said aside from the A23 carrying on from the M23 is still the responsibility of Highways England and not West Sussex council. Nice video, never knew why J10A only had north-facing slip roads

[@whyyoulidl]

Hey My Name is John, thanks for brightening my Sunday as usual. In the words of Tommy Cooper, "have a drink on me!"

[@AutoShenanigans]

Cheers mate, appreciate it .

[@pauloconnor2980]

There's also a 'ghost stub' of tarmacadam that leads off the A23 (northbound) just before it heads under the disused M23 bridge, that would have been the on ramp for the M23 extension.

[@mphinpgh]

Glad to see your subs numbers going up. Love the channel. Greetings from Pennsylvania!

[@AutoShenanigans]

Oh hey there!

[@robinwells8879]

Arguably the most unpromising subject matter of all time and yet I find a miniature and whimsical gem of a program. Great work guys. Drones have done such amazing things for the documentary sector. I find myself compelled to subscribe!👏🙏👍

[@Scott757300]

A very timely video indeed! I flew into Heathrow today and flew over the M23 on the way in, and I was able to spot many of the features you spoke about, including the abandoned section and the junction! As always, a very enjoyable video!

[@Chezeehat]

5:28 that setup on the far wall would have warned Crawley that Soviet sponsored urban improvement was (about) 4 minutes away. The box with 3 handsets is a Carrier Control Point.

[@jono_high]

Congrats on smashing 40k, mate! Well deserved 👍

[@davebuckley1760]

When I started watching him about two months ago he had about 2k subscribers. Well deserved on the numbers

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks mate, it's all down to you lot really.

[@CaseysTrains]

3:07 Reminds me of Woodbridge, NJ where there NJ Turnpike meets the Garden State Parkway with Woodbridge Ave crossing above both of them. It's only 3-tier but still pretty impressive. In Richmond, Virginia they have similar 3-tier junction for railroad trains.

[@6thdayblue59]

As always..... Interesting, funny, engaging and of course captivating from the being to the end

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks mate

[@damedavidfrith55]

Thanks for another cracking vlog very interesting 🧐

[@AutoShenanigans]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@smogmonster1876]

Always look forward to these videos they really are genuinely exciting and very entertaining. Thank you John for another fantastic episode. Keep them coming.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Nice one, cheers mate!

[@imminicheddars]

It's great to see a small channel blow up so well, and I'm sure Jay appreciates the shoutout! A colab colab colab-lab-lab would be great.

[@alancliff9208]

Just simple and brilliant channel

[@CptGlassback]

Lovely to learn about my local M Way! FYI before Bob Geldof became famous he worked in construction and worked on the M23/M25 junction.

[@jeremywilliams5107]

Explains so much.

[@olympus__]

I believe the Almondsbury interchange connecting the M4 and M5 is a four-stack, but I may be wrong

[@ianbrooks6816]

Thanks John

[@shakedown1979]

Another fantastic dryly-humoured whistle stop tour on a subject I think most would wonder wtf. But the numbers are going up mate, there’s more of us out there than meets the eye share this kinda interest.

[@6thdayblue59]

Hi mate.... Well said I'm not a car person.......... but I find these posts highly entertaining and the humour is just right as well as engaging. I'm glad you put into words, what many of us think.

[@AutoShenanigans]

It's great how many tarmac enthusiasts seem to be out there!! thanks for watching

[@richhughes7450]

It's amazing how buildings get left to decay. It's such a waste.

[@gregorzpeck2]

That strange bit of deadend motorway is the Hooley turnaround,that is where maintenance guys stop and wait for motorway guys to shut the wrong lanes for there work for the night,just to come back the next day to do the job...

[@jtechs7382]

Thanks for informing me of the raceway - taking my daughter next Sunday!